Ancient glass shards and components are excavated in Afghanistan, along the Silk Road, a network of trade routes that connected cultures and merchants and spanned from the 2^nd century BCE to the 18^th century.  The glass originated in the regions of the Roman Empire, where glassware became popularized with the invention of glass blowing, around 50 BCE.  Glassware was brought into the homes of most Romans and used on a daily basis. It was also traded along the Silk Road.  These fragments of glass are repurposed from broken vessels that were buried for hundreds of years along the Silk Trade Road and today are made into beads.  Because it is excavated in Afghanistan, I am choosing to call it “ancient glass” instead of “ancient Roman glass.”